The Huskies are moving up in the Pac-12 -- problem is, they're still not up to the level of Stanford, and they certainly aren't able to compete with Oregon for four quarters.
The Dawgs entered Saturday's rivalry contest ranked 16th in the country, looking for what would have been the biggest win in the Steve Sarkisian era over No. 2 Oregon. But Washington couldn't quite get it done, and the Ducks prevailed 45-24 in front of 71,833 fans at Husky Stadium.
"It's a good team we lost to," Sark said after the game. "It's been back-to-back weeks of playing two really good football teams, and I think our kids have shown a great deal of competitive spirit. I think they've shown that we can play with those guys; we played with Stanford for 60 minutes and we played with these guys for three-and-a-half quarters."
A few days ago, we gave you five keys to the game. How did the Huskies stack up? Let's take a look. less

The Huskies are moving up in the Pac-12 -- problem is, they're still not up to the level of Stanford, and they certainly aren't able to compete with Oregon for four quarters.
The Dawgs entered Saturday's ... more

Photo: JORDAN STEAD, SEATTLEPI.COM

The Huskies are moving up in the Pac-12 -- problem is, they're... Photo-5314311.71998 - seattlepi.com

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1. Can the Huskies defense slow down the Ducks?

No. Well, yes but no. For three quarters, Washington's formidable defense held back Oregon's powerful defense to at least remain within reasonable striking defense. It's rare for the Ducks to have just a seven-point lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
Let that digest for a moment: Oregon led by just seven points at the start of the fourth.
But that's when the Huskies defense began to tucker out. The Ducks never relented, and wound up putting up 14 more unanswered points as the Dawgs struggled to respond.
Oregon QB Marcus Mariota put on yet another Heisman-worthy show by channeling his inner Russell Wilson on Saturday, not only throwing for 366 yards and three touchdowns, but also taking the ball himself for 97 more yards on the ground. At times, it looked as though Mariota could have beaten the Huskies all by himself.
After the game, Sarkisian said his team's strategy was to keep Mariota in the pocket and contain him with a spy or two. But Mariota simply outplayed Washington's defense, hanging back just enough time to find an open receiver or tucking the ball to run it himself if no one opened up. More often than not, Mariota got sizable yardage.
Against Oregon, the best defense is a good offense. The thing is, you need an offense that can keep up with the Ducks. It's unknown whether any team can actually do that for 60 minutes.

To keep pace with the Ducks, the Huskies needed to put together long drives of their own offense. And they did so, but the key was doing it consistently. The Dawgs couldn't.
Washington QB Keith Price put together four scoring drives, but only one of them lasted longer than three minutes. On that 15-play, 53-yard drive, the Huskies found themselves in good position with first-and-goal at Oregon's 5-yard line, but had to settle for a field goal after a strong goal-line stand by the Ducks.
Travis Coons' 30-yarder cut Oregon's lead to 11 instead of seven, and from that point in the third quarter on, the Huskies seemed to have little chance.
Price finished 19-for-32 with one touchdown and one interception, and struggled at times to deliver accurate passes to his receivers. His pick came on a key possession at the end of the first half, when the Huskies trailed 21-7 and needed to take some momentum into the locker room. But Price and receiver Jaydon Mickens miscommunicated and the pass soared far over Mickens' head unto the hands of Oregon safety Erick Dargan.
Oregon shut down nearly every Washington playmaker -- except running back Bishop Sankey, who showed why he is one of the nation's top rushers with a 174-yard performance Saturday on the ground. He had two touchdowns, including a 60-yarder to open the second half, on 28 carries.
But his fumble at the beginning of the second quarter, however, flipped the momentum after the Huskies were threatening again inside Oregon territory. Oregon recovered and, eight plays later, took a 14-7 lead.
Washington's other big names struggled. Tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins, who has yet to have a big game after his wildly successful 2012 campaign, was held to a mere 36 yards on two receptions, though one was a touchdown. Mickens had 50 yards on four receptions, receiver Kasen Williams had 30 yards on three catches, backup tailback Jesse Callier had just 7 yards on two touches, less

2. Will the Dawgs offense play keep-away?

To keep pace with the Ducks, the Huskies needed to put together long drives of their own offense. And they did so, but the key was doing it consistently. The Dawgs

2. Will the Dawgs offense play keep-away? To keep pace with the... Photo-5314315.71998 - seattlepi.com

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3. Who wins special teams?

It was important for Washington's special teams units to bounce back from their poor performance last week at Stanford, when a touchdown kickoff return and a blocked punt all but doomed the Dawgs.
And they did so Saturday against the Ducks. There were no horrible miscues, there were no costly penalties, there were no game-altering plays. The biggest blemish was a 57-yard kickoff return by Oregon's Josh Huff just after the Huskies tied the game at 7 in the first quarter -- certainly a failure for UW, but not something that lost the game.
In fact, despite six punts by Coons, the Ducks finished with minus-1 yard on punt returns. Coons pinned one inside Oregon's 20-yard line, and booted a 55-yarder as the Dawgs surrendered the ball for the final time in the fourth quarter.

3. Who wins special teams? It was important for Washington's... Photo-5314316.71998 - seattlepi.com

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4. Will Washington clean up its act?

The Huskies went into Saturday's game averaging 12 penalties per outing, mainly a symptom of the team's transition to an uptempo offense this season. Against lesser teams, the penalties didn't hurt UW until last weekend's loss at Stanford, where the Huskies drew 10 flags for 89 yards.
Against the Ducks, the Dawgs finally seemed to have their act together. Washington commited just five penalties for a combined loss of 54 yards. And while most of UW's penalties to date had been procedural errors such as false starts, it was back to the usual holding calls Saturday against the Ducks.
In fact, Oregon had a messier game with nine penalties for 86 yards. A wild Husky Stadium crowd seemed to contribute to the Ducks' three false starts, and fans went crazy the several times Oregon got flagged for personal fouls. As expected, it was a chippy game with high emotions.

4. Will Washington clean up its act? The Huskies went into... Photo-5314318.71998 - seattlepi.com

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5. How do the Huskies bounce back?

Last Saturday's loss at Stanford was heartbreaking. The Huskies had a chance in the final minutes, and many UW fans felt the Pac-12 officials handed them a loss by overturning a first-down catch on Washington's final possession.
Compounded with the usual excitement of a rivalry game against the Ducks -- not to mention the added national attention with ESPN's "College GameDay" in town -- all eyes were on Washington and whether it could stay focused.
The Dawgs responded admirably. They took the field with obvious confidence, backed by a deafening crowd of purple, gold and black -- with a little green and yellow mixed in. Price was poised and Sankey was his slippery self, and despite getting rattled a bit in the second quarter, Washington retained its competitive spirit through the better part of three quarters.
But when the game started slipping away, in the fourth quarter, it became clear Oregon had beat down the Huskies' spirits. Washington started committing holding penalties, and Price started getting sacked more frequently. Once the Dawgs went into comeback mode and had to rely on the pass, the Huskies' offense became one-dimensional and the Ducks got through to Price.
Yet Saturday's defeat was not terrible and it was not unexpected. The Huskies showed they could hold strong with the best team in the Pac-12 and arguably the best team in college football. After the game, Sarkisian said he told his players to keep their heads up.
"Unfortunately we just couldn't get over the hump against two really good teams," he said. "But that doesn't take away from our football team. We're a good football team and we need to get back on the horse. And we need to start preparing for Arizona State, because the biggest game of our season is next Saturday and we need to get ready for it."